Vignettes 2: Kunochi Life
by fAtAlflAme
Summary: Snapshots of Kunochi life. Focused around Hinata, Sakura, Ino, and Tenten, and how they've all grown up. Sequel to Vignettes.


_Vignettes: Chapter 2_

_I don't own Naruto…unfortunately. Thanks to Ryou VeRua, my one and only useless (Rua suggests you change this to 'amazing, awe-inspiring, wonderful, perfect, phenomenal BETA XP) BETA. If it weren't for you…well, I dunno, deep down I'm sure I have something nice to say about you. Anyway, on with the show! (By the way, I totally noticed the edit in the middle of this note. I'll let Rua speak for herself)_

The four children, the four ninja, survived the war, sanity mostly intact. They never fully grew to understand why they became killers, or why they suffered. Intent on saving the hopes and dreams of the younger generation, each one took on a team. There is no war now, but there is still no safety. They're growing up, and they are killers. No…they are shinobi, and this is how they live.

A glimpse of blonde hair and nobody knows what they're up against. Ino depends on their assumption that she is just a material girl, that she prides herself on her soft blonde hair. Nobody guesses that she is about to kill them, she looks as innocent as she wishes she could to be.

The lord she's supposed to be 'seducing' has a hold of her, arms wrapped tightly around her waist, and she's trembling out of sheer excitement. '_One wrong move and I'll take you out.' _ She thinks, and when his hand not-so-accidentally brushes against her breast, her mind whirls in excitement. _'Go.'_

Not a minute later, he's lying on the ground, a kunai jammed in his torso where she stabbed him, and the knife is embedded so far between his ribs that she thinks it's a miracle it didn't come out his back. She's smirking now, surveying her surroundings, including the four guards that have come to the other man's rescue. They're eyeing her warily, and when they come at her, she swings another knife around, slitting three of the four throats. The survivor is staring at her, she can see from the expression on his face that he thinks she will spare him. "Shintenshin no Jutsu" she murmurs, and the man's eyes widen as she takes over his body. Striding over to the lord's body, she yanks out the knife, hearing the splintering of bone. She brings it down at the body she occupies, transferring out at the last minute, and allowing momentum to be the man's destroyer.

Picking herself up off the floor where her unoccupied body had fallen, she assesses the quality of her job. With a flick of blonde hair, she walks out of the room, leaving behind five dead men, and her 'cleanup crew.' "Have fun, forehead girl," she whispers, not looking at the pale pink haired girl who looks like she's going to be sick.

Sakura refuses to let the tears roll down her cheeks because she knows that rules say she's not allowed to cry. With a glance at Ino's retreating back, she sets to work, choking back a gag every time she looks at the puddles of blood on the floor. She wonders when her friend learned to kill without feeling.

She's set about healing the wounds on the bodies, because they're just surface wounds, cuts that can be healed. She mops up blood from everywhere, attempting to leave no trace of the Konoha kunochi behind. Ino does the killing, and she makes sure that they don't get killed. It's an unnatural routine of theirs. By the time she stands up on trembling legs, the room is clean, the bodies unmarred, and her stomach is churning. She lines them us, side by side. _'Guard, guard, lord, guard, guard.' _ She thinks, concentrating hard on the pattern, and not on the people.

By the time she makes it to the door, she's composed herself. Next time, Ino can wonder when she learned to kill without feeling. It's her turn next. Carefully turning the doorknob, she looks around her carefully, all senses on alert, before she darts into the light and jumps to a tree. She's skilled, there's no doubt about it, and she's matured since she was on the broken Team 7. She makes it back to Konoha in record time, and she's passed the Hyuuga compound before she realizes that she still has blood on her hands. It just makes her move a little faster.

Hinata is training hard on the Hyuuga compound when she sees Sakura's chakra. Her byukaagan is on, and it's giving her a throbbing headache, but she doesn't really care anymore because she's just seen her friend; she knows that Sakura probably doesn't realize she's covered in someone else's blood.

She never wanted to be the heir to her clan, but that responsibility was pushed on her anyway. She never wanted to be a kunochi, but she didn't have a choice in that either. She also didn't have a choice on going on a mission with ninja she didn't know. The only choice she can remember making right now is the one that resulted in her teammate's death. It was either try to save him and most likely be killed, or leave him and cover her own ass. She'd taken option number two. She knew he wouldn't make it even if she tried to save him. His injuries were too extensive. It wasn't her fault he'd gotten in the way of those senbon. That was _his_ choice.

Her heart breaks just considering what she's thinking. She can't even feel remorse for abandoning her faithful teammates. She's grown up a lot since she was on her team, feeling too much and fighting too little. She's matured enough to know exactly what needs to be done, and her improvement since the old days is startling. Her father can no longer pretend he isn't proud of her. She's become the daughter he's always wanted. _'A soldier without a conscience. Just another trained murderer waiting in the shadows,'_ she thinks, before driving her palm towards the tree in front of her. Wincing as the wood splinters under the force, she pulls away. Enough is enough for one night. Heading inside, she considers maybe going out to get ramen tonight. She might run into Naruto, and then she can show him exactly how much she's grown up.

Tenten walks past the compound, looking towards the Main House for any signs of life. More then once she's debated stopping and to visit her old friend, but every time she keeps on walking. She's heard things. Stories. Hinata has grown up; she's not so little anymore. _'You were once the strong one…'_ Tenten thinks to herself bitterly. _'How did you get beaten out by meek little Hinata Hyuuga?' _It's a question she's asked herself many times, and she knows the answer to it. She wasn't as strong as she had once believed. When she had been beaten by Hinata, something had snapped. Having perfect aim was a blessing, she had been told. She didn't believe she had perfect aim anymore. She'd been In that one fight with Temari, and she hadn't been able to touch the girl. She'd thrown hundreds – no, thousands of weapons…everything she had. What was the use of having thousands of weapons if you couldn't hit your target? Everything was reflected. She couldn't be touched. Tenten had given up on fighting then. She couldn't beat someone in an enclosed arena. She'd have no more luck in the outside world. She'd decided to go into teaching instead. It was a far cry from the adventure she'd wanted, but she learned more from her little students then she ever did in the field. What was the point of growing up so soon, only to kill or be killed?

They are the kunochi of their generation. They are the present, trained by the past and holding the future in the palms of their hands. They are swift, skilled, and beautiful. They are kunochi, and they have never believed in living because they _are _death.

_Please Review!!! (constructive criticism, ideas for new fics, compliments, and even flames are greatly appreciated )Oh, and a word of advice (mainly to a reviewer who shall not be named). If you're going to flame a fic for bad spelling or grammar, please take your own advice and review with both in mind. (By the way, I totally noticed the edit in my Author's note. I'll let Rua speak for herself)_


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